BMJ  2007;335:833-834 (27 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.39371.586076.80 (published 22 October 2007)

Editorials

Equitable access to health care

We have adequate evidence to improve health services now in less resourced countries

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

As the world grapples with the problems of poverty and ill health, most people would agree that urgent action is needed to reduce the unacceptably high number of deaths of children living in resource constrained countries.¹ Three studies in this week's BMJ provide evidence to improve health services in less resourced countries.^{2 3 4} The first study, by Biai and colleagues, is a randomised controlled trial from Guinea Bissau in West Africa. They show that supervising healthcare workers to adhere to standard treatment protocols reduces mortality in children admitted to hospital with severe malaria.² This may not seem surprising. What is surprising, though, and of major policy importance, is that a key part of this effective intervention was to provide a small financial incentive to health workers (equivalent to one month's rent).

Many agencies, including governments in countries in sub-Saharan Africa with less resources, have been reluctant to give financial incentives to . . . [Full text of this article]

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Makerere University Medical School, PO Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Ncayiyana, D. J (2007). Combating poverty: the charade of development aid. BMJ 335: 1272-1273 [Full text]  
• Pakenham-Walsh, N. (2007). What about the needs of health workers in developing countries?. BMJ 335: 954-954 [Full text]  

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